The 84-year-old actress, who has played Rita for more than 50 years, dispelled the dementia speculation and revealed that the brain tumour plot has “a long way to go”.
Rita collapsed at foster daughter Jenny Bradley’s (Sally Ann Matthews) hen do last week and was rushed to hospital, where an MRI scan unveiled a lesion on her brain.
Knox explained: “When our producer Kate Oates talked to me about the brain tumour storyline for Rita, I was truly honoured to be tasked with taking on such an important story.
“As an actress playing the role I am mindful that there are people going through this in real life and it is vital that we do their stories justice.
“There is a long way to go yet in this storyline for Rita. As we follow her journey from the devastating diagnosis and how she comes to terms with the uncertainty of what the future holds for her, she has some big decisions to make in the coming weeks.
Knox added that the disease is frightening so she is pleased to portray the role and help those who may be affected in real life.
She continued: “Until I started working on this storyline I had no idea that a brain tumour could cause someone to act in the way Rita has been.
“It is a frightening disease and my thoughts are with everyone affected by a brain tumour.”
Show bosses have taken advice from Brain Tumour Research to make sure the portrayal of Rita’s illness is accurate.
The charity’s chief executive, Sue Farrington Smith MBE, said: “Some 16,000 people are diagnosed with a brain tumour in the UK each year, so we were pleased that Coronation Street approached us to advise on this storyline.
“This disease is indiscriminate; brain tumours can affect anyone, at any age, while symptoms can vary significantly. Patients can experience confusion, like Rita, mood swings and depression amongst other things.
“Unfortunately, there are cases where these symptoms are extreme. So little is understood about brain tumours and just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease.”
Coronation Street continues tomorrow on ITV at 7.30pm.
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